KL GIGS

It's all about smoke & sweat.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Deftones Live in KL @ KL Live Center

It was a humid, rainy day, the sky clogged with intensity, and nothing can paint a day for Deftones more than grey skies and looming clouds. Held at a half torn down KL Live Center, Deftones' arrival to Malaysia drew in a huge, LARGE, amount of crowd, from Thailand, Philipines, Indonesia, Sarawak, etc. It's a no wonder Chino Moreno was apparently quite worried backstage about the size of the venue.

We waited outside, and I waited for Moe to bring my magic ticket to enter the concert - media passss, betch! :) If only I could write for Junk, then at least the pass would've been quite worthwhile. I stood outside with Rhid, Anton, Nin, Moshi and other friends and shared drinks, cigs and waited for the night to approach.

But the unbelievably small size of the venue made the concert even more of an explosion, when the bodies of black shirts were cramped and sucked into the warp of audience space, and stood shoulder to shoulder at the VIP balcony zones as we waited with extreme excitement for our favourite American band to make their first ever appearance on Malaysian lands, before our eyes.

Love Me Butch brought the stage to life, playing a total of five songs - 3 new tracks inclusive of "Come on, Come out" and two old favourites; "Stumble upon a glass" and "Reconcile". The crowd were supportive and cheered after every song, however the hype and the buzz were obviously growing for Deftones and Deftones alone. All in all, Love Me Butch played a great, tight set. As they ended, we found our spot quite far in the back, and me, Nin and Rhid (managed to get her in!) were standing and jumping on our toes with anticipation as we waved at familiar faces around us, and waited for Ezzart and Moe to find their ways to us.

Then it began. With a dazzle of lights and ear-splitting cheers from the crowd, Deftones, the gods, the deities of music, stepped on stage and tore the stage to life with one of my personal favourites: "Birthmark".... Gosh.... I think I almost passed out singing along to this. "Drinks won't stain this birthhhhh!"... NGEEE!!!! Moe found us as the song ended and "Engine Number 9" kicked in.

"Lyrical! Wipe! Lyrical! Did!". The entire space of KL Live was filled with the sounds of guitars, drums, screams and sing-alongs. The crowd was never silent, not even for a split minuscule fraction of a second. It was amazing. Despite being squished here and there, and not capturing ONE decent photo (but lots of awesome videos!) because of the packed body slamming here and there, I felt completely up in the air and completely in a comfort zone. Us and Deftones. Deftones and us.

Chi, the bassist, who's been in coma for three years, was replaced on the Diamond Eyes Tour by a Hispanic guy called Sergio. There were people who went into the crowd holding "One Love For Chi" banners, and the atmosphere was just so positive and so full of life. Other songs on my favourites which they performed in the first half of their set was "Hexagram", "Minerva" - It's a strangeeee numbbbbbbb, and it brings back peaceee to the earthhhhh (!!!!), "Around the Fur", "Knife Party", "My Own Summer"... well, heck, ALL! Except a few unfamiliar ones like Lhabia and Bloody Cape, etc. But hell, "Minerva" made me cry.

They played a total of 26 to 27 songs (if you include a Sade cover), and most of the songs were songs I were really hoping they'd play. But one can't have all. Even though Deftones pierced through my heart with "Hole In the Earth", "Kimdracula" (YES THEY PLAYED THAT!!!) and "Sextape", I was gutted that they did not play "Cherry Waves", which is one of my personal favourites. But all in all, the fact that "Beauty School" and "Rocket Skates" from their new album were performed as well, it definitely was a concert worthwhile, without a doubt. When the intro to Kimdracula was played by Steve and Abe, I think I actually felt my knees buckle and my lungs tear. :)

They ended their set with three encores, after amazingly rare performances of "Back to School", "Passenger" and "Change". The entire show left me breathless, the atmosphere is constantly heavy and constantly pulling our attention to the stage and to the music surrounding ever corner of the venue. And the fact that I was spending this moment, watching my favourite band, with a favourite person... it was magical. After a Sade cover to begin the encore streak, it was swiftly followed by "Root" and finally ending with another of my absolute favourite - the frantic, hectic, intensified live performance of "7 Words". Left with bruises and a slightly chipped camera, but wattaheck, it's bloody Deftones. \m/

After the concert, there were mini fireworks above KL Live to celebrate the show and we left to eat and spend the night dreaming with Deftones' melodies in our minds.